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No. 229,479. Patented June 29,1880.

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Machine for Plicating Fabrics. No. 229,479. Patented June 29,1880.

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UNITED ST T S PATENT OFFICE.

' JOSEPH LSGHOLFIELD, or rnovrnnnon, RHODE ISLAND.

MACH-INF. FOR PL'ICATING FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,479, dated June 29, 1880. Application filed April 26.1880 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, JOSEPH J. SGHOLFIELD, of the city of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of lthode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Folding Fabrics Smoothly and Evenly Lcngthwise, and, when desired,- Grosswise also, of which the following is a specification.

Webs of cloth are woven of various widths,

some narrow, others wide, and a large portion executed with the precision which the exigencies of trade demand, more especially for that large class of fabrics which are cut up by wholesale establishments for garments in seldom less than two, and generally many, plies at once, where it is obvious that, unevenness of folding would involve corresponding waste, as itis necessary in the cutting trade to utilize the entire width of the fold in cutting the garment without wasting a shred that can be saved.

Much thought and labor have been to the production of some mechanism that would fold fabrics lengthwise with evenness and celerity, and many ingenious machines have been the result of such effort; but such machines were without any provision for properly folding elastic fabrics, and as all wide fabrics that require lengthwise folding are elastic as well as pliable, they present conditions which such machines are not adapted to meet, and the lengthwise folding of such fabrics, therefore, still continues to be done almost wholly by hand.

To provide a method upon which a positivelyacting automatic machine might be constructed and operated to plicate smoothly and evenly elastic and pliable fabrics lengthwise of their webs is a principal object of my invention,-

directed which also includes the construction, arrangement, and combination of mech anism for compact, even, and positive cross folding or rolling of the fabric continuously with its lengthwise folding, and also adapting the severalflparts of the machine to convenient access and adjustment and the more effective performance of their respective functions.

The firststep in the lengthwise plication of a web of cloth by the mode of operation upon which 1 proceed is to place the web in an even pile ona suitable stand and at the proper position behind the machine, and then pass one end of the web, o'utspread to its full width, over one or more bars with'rounded corners, or over one or morerolls retarded by frictionrubbers, or over both bars and rolls, until sufficient friction is produccd between the surface of the cloth and such bars and rolls (either or both) to require enough tractive force applied to the advancing end of the web to pull out its creases and wrinkles and outstretch and outspread it fiat upon the face of a triangular table, to which it passes on leaving the frontfrict-ion bar or roll, as the case may be. fhis table at its rear end, where the cloth enters upon it, is parallel to the friction-bars and at right angles to the direction in which the web enters and passes along the table. The table projects, apex forward,.from the frame, and I have named itthe plicater. Its apex,thesides of which meet at an angle of ninety degrees, I have named the point of the plicater. A pair of adjustable guides are arranged upon the plicater parallel to the perpendicular drawn from its point to its base. This perpendicular I call the crease-line" of the plicater. The guides are adjustable to a greater or less distance from the said crease-line, to leave a space between them just equal to the width of the web to be plicated, which space is'for the purpose of directing the course of the web over the point of the plicater in the line at which it is desired the crease of the fold or ply shall run.

The plicater should be made as thin as is consistent with the requisite rigidity, and it may be made to increase in thickness from the point toward the base, to produce a difi'erential tension upon the plications of the cloth in a manner and for a purpose which will presently be explained.

To make an even two-ply fold from end to end of a web the outspread end of the web is drawn from the feed-table forward over the friction bars and roll and the space between the side guides along the plicater until the end of the web will just bend over the point of end of the webis now spread evenly and Sill oothly over both the upper and under sides of the plicater, and if the approximated ends of the two plies be caused to descend toget'herin the fold-plane through a narrow slot, just wide enough to receive them, between two guides, one on each side of the plane and near the under side of the plicater, the initial end of the plication or two-ply lengthwise fold of the web will be complete, and may conveniently be continued by inserting the folded end between a pair of traction-rolls immediately below the slot, andwhich, in drawing the fold ownward, will draw the web forward over and under the plicater and through the fold-slot thus acting at any given time only upon the two small triangular areas of the web in transit between the table-plane and the fold-plane. The machineplicates the whole web by causing these duplex areas of activity to glide through its whole length, the fabric, from the time it reaches the plicater until completely folded, being kept stretched and free'from wrinkles,

I and the fold made with a straight crease, and

tlie'selvages laid evenly and parallel with the crease.

During the transition of the fabric from the face ofthe plicater through the triangular areas to thefold-plane itsparts move through varying distances in alternately sinuous and straight courses and under different strains, the parts plies of the fold and endangers the rupture of the cloth by the point of the plicater; and for these and other reasons such inequalities of strain I have reduced as far as practicable by contracting within the narrowest possible liaiits the area of fabric at anyone time under the actual operation of plication by causing every part of the cloth to pass from the outspread condition on the plicater-plan'e, by the shortest practical path, to the plic'ated condi-' tion in the fold-plane, which is done by making the angle of the plicater ninety degrees and causing the cloth to pass in close contact with its surface from one plane to the other. Thispath, through which the cloth passes from one planeto the other, although the shortest practicable, is only mathematically the shortest at the center line of the crease of the fold,

greater length of path away from the crease subjects the cloth to greater tension toward the margin of the ply, leaving it at the point of the plicater sufficient to form a smooth crease. Such a differential tension, determined by making the edge of the plicatcr-of the appropriate thickness, prevents all danger of rupturing the fabric by undue pressure of the point of the plicater.

The increased distance which the margin' of the ply isanade to travel by passing round the edge of a plicater madeof a plate of metal a quarter of an inch thick, reduced on} both edges at and near the point-by beveling or otherwise thinning off the back to shorten the distance round the edge to the fold plane, and so produce a (lifterential'tension, is suited to the folding of goods of moderate elasticity and thickness, only requiring moderate tractive force to outspread it, smooth out its wrinkles, and draw it through ,the machine; but where, from the increase of elasticity of the fabric, or of tractive force necessary to be employed, or from any other cause, the crease of the fabric bears too strongly upon the point of the plicater, notwithstanding the thinning of the edge, asaforesaid, the pressure may readily be relieved by inserting the end of a tapering stretcher a greater or less distance between the marginal portion of each ply and the back of the plicater, to increase as much as may be required the length of the path of the margin of the ply between the face of the plicater and the fold-plane, to increasethe marginal and correspondingly diminish the crease tension.

It is important that the cloth should not be subjected to greater tension than is necessary to fold it smoothly and evenly, as undue stress :will impair its elasticity and strength and subject it, as well as the machine, to unnecessary wear and tear, and in doing so will consome unnecessary motive power.

By making the angle of the plicater ninety degrees I am enabled to make the folding mechanism the most compact which this principle and mode of operation admitsv to reduce to a-minimum the area of fabric at any given moment undergoing actual doubling or plication, and to make the entire action of the machine in producing the fold so direct and immediate that the movements of the fabric are hardly less positive than those of the machine itself, and so accomplish the work of folding withnniformity, precision, celerity, the least practicable stress upon the fabric, and without waste of power.

In the accompanying drawings,.which make part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a view, in perspective, of a machine which embodies niy improvements in folding fabrics lengthwise and rolling them into compactparcels or packages. Fig. l represents one of the side guides of the feed-table detached, that itsconstructionunay be the better seen. Fig. 1" represents a web of fabric cross-folded round a flat board, the cross-folding shown in Fig. 1 being a nearly cylindrical roll formed by winding the fabric on a slightly tapering rod of the form in common use for that purpose. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of the machine shown in Fig. 1 in .the plane of the crease-line of the plicater. Fig. 3 represents atop view of a fragment of one side ofthe machine upon an enlarged scale,'to show more clearly the device for adjusting the friction of the tension-roll and the arrangement and graduation of the scale for setting the side guides, the dotted lines in the plicater showing a top view of the fold-guides. Fig. 3 represents, upon anenlarged sale, a side elevation of the friction-strap of the tension-roll. Fig. 3" represents, on an enlarged scale, a top view'of the feed-table and the stretching-bar, showing the scale upon both. Fig. it represents a front elevation of a fragmen'tcfthe plicater, the upper part of the main pillarof tlieinachine, and the guidebars, showing mode of attaching the guide-bars to the upper part of the pillar, which admits of one kind of bars hein g detached readily and others substituted, and of adjusting the bars toward and from each other and toward and from the back of the plicater. Fig. 5 represents, in plan, the plicater with fold guides at its back,

having wide wings, which are shown'by the dotted lines. Fig. 6 represents a'front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 5, together with the upper portion of the pillar and the means for fastening the fold-guides in place and admittingoftheiradjustment. Fig. 7 rep resents a rear elevation of the-main piliar of the machine and of the mechanism below the plicater, which it carries. Fig. 8 represents a section at the lined: wof Fig. 7. Fig.9 represents one of the shafts for carrying on its eccentric spindle one of the traction-rolls, its toothed sector being shown on the end opposite tothe spindle. Fig. 10 represents, in plan,

the back of a horizontal plicater with a pair of tapering selvagest'retchers adjustable by means of a shaft and bevel-wheels, with a (letent to hold them in any position to which they may be adjusted. This figure also shows the rod provided with right-hand and left-hand screw-threads and accessories for the adjustment of the side guides, Fig. 11 represents,

in elevation, the parts shown in Fig. 10, ex-

cepting the adj listing-screw and its accessories, inverted and looking at their rear. Fig. 12 represents, in elevation and upon an enlarged scale, one of the adjustable side guides with its" spring-detect and wheel, to hold its revolvin g adj ust-ablc nut. It also shows, in section, the adjnsting-screw and theplicater. Fig. 13 represents a plan of the under side of the parts shown in Fig. 12, except 'the-plicatcr, which is removed. Fig. 14 represents, in perspective, the back of the plicater, to show the manner in which its con verging edgesare thinnedoif.

Fig. 15 represents, in perspective, a foldingmachine more simple-inconstruclioirthan that shown in Fig. L ,v but well adapted to folding a large class of widefabrics. Fig. 16 represents a multiplicating and packagingmachine, by which, at a'single operation, the fabric is triplicated lengthwise. and folded'crosswise into a compact cylindrical package. Fig, 17 represents, in cross-section, apiece of fabric out spread, preparatory to being plicateil in the different forms shown by Figs. 18, 19, 20, 21,

.22, 23, 24:, 25, and 26; and'Fig. 27 represents,

in perspective and in an inverted position, a fragment ofthe fabric removed from the plicater, fold-guides, and traction-rolls while in processv of being folded with equal plies, to show the positions, areas, and directions of movement of the parts of the fabric under process of plication, iii-relation to the parts plicated inimcdiat'elybefore andto those to be plicated immediately afterward. Fig. 28 represents a view of the edgeof the plicater and of a wedgesliaped piece capable of being attached to and detached from said edge, to vary the stretch of the margin of the fabric passing over the, plicater. Fig. 29 represents-a view of the edge of the plicater, with an adjustable strip on its under side, to expand the edge of the plicater perpendicularly to its face and Fig. 30 represents the plicater in plan, with its edges adapted to be expanded parallel to its face. I 7

The end of the machine at which the fabric to be folded enters is herein called its rear, and the opposite extremity its front. The same,letters of reference indicate the same parts of the machine in all thefigures of the drawings.

The mechanism for lengthwise folding, as represented in the drawings, is supported on a frame consisting chiefly of a base, from which a pillar, A, rises, that supports at its top a flat oblong cap or platform, a. On this platform the plicater (1 is placed and held by suitable iastenings. v

()n the front side of the'upp'er end-of the pillai' a flat boss, (4, Figs. 2 and 4, is formed, to which the fold-guides D D are bolted. The holes in the shoulders of theseguides, through which the supporting-bolts pass, are oblong and oblique, as shown in. Fig. 4, so as to pernit the guides to be raised andlirought nearer together, to narrow the slot between them and bring them nearer to the back of the plicater, or allow the guides to be lowered and the slot between them widened as the different kinds of goodsto be folded may require.

. The oblong holes are wider than the bolts, to permit widening or narrowing the slot to some extent without raising or lowering' the guides, or vice versa. These guides extend a short distance-beyond the point of the plicater, and

are rounded at their ends and corners and Y end this rack'bar is jointed to a foot-lever, c

by pressure on which the rack is raised and the sectors and shafts turned to separate oropen the rolls, which, on removing the pressure from the foot-lever, shut again by their own weight, aided by the resilient force of a spring, .6 compressed by the raising of'the rack-bar.

An adjusting-screw, e limits the descent of the rack and the approximation of the traction-rolls, and thus regulates the pressure or gripe of the rolls upon' the fabric between them. i

Below the rock-shafts, on one side of the pillar A, a driving-shaft, B, Fig. 8, is journaled. This driving-shaft carries on its rear end a pulley, b, driven from any convenient motor, and on its front end it carries a spurwheel, I), which engages with one of the spurwheels E that gear the traction-rolls E E together.

The teeth of the wheels E E and I) should be made of such pitch and length and so arranged as to admit of the rolls being separated far enough to allow the folded end of a thick web tobe inserted between them, and to approach close enough to' grasp firmly the thinnest piece of fabric to be plicated without so far changing the interme shing as to prevent the cog-wheels from driving or being driven by each other.

The plicater O is in the form of a triangular table, of thin metal, extended on the rear side to form a rectangular margin convenient for securing the tabular triangle to the cap a of the pillar A, and for carrying accessory mechanism;

I make theplicater preferably of cast-iron; but it may be made of boiler iron, steel, wood bound at the edges with metal, or other fit materials. If made of metal, it should be polished on I the face, back, and wherever the fabric moves over it, to diminish friction, and it might with advantage be nickel-plated. The back of the plicater should be beveled at each side of the point for some distance toward the base, to thin the edges, as shown in Fig. 14. v

r The crease-linen of the plicater is at right angles to its base and in the vertical plane through which the crease or turn of the lengthwise plies of the web are: always to be made. It is also the datum-line, to which, in constructing the machine, the position of all its parts directly concerned in making the plication must be referred.

To each side of the marginal extension of the plicater G, at its rear, a side piece, F, is secured to support the bearings of the stretchingroll I and the ends-of the stretching-bars G H. The corners of the stretching-bars should be rounded, while the surface of the roll may be covered or roughened to increase the adhesion between it and the fabric to be outstretched. The roll is formed with a groove near one end, to which a friction-strap, 71, Figs. 3 and 3, is adapted, lined with felt cloth properly lubricated, and held with the requisite pressure against the bottom of the groove by means of a tightening-screw through the arms of the strap. By this means the friction of the roll can be increased or diminished to vary corre spondingly the tension towhich thefabric is subjected While being drawn through the machine.

,Within the side bars, F F, two adjustable side guides, L L, are placed. These guides are arranged parallel to the crease-line o, and extend forward upon the plicater and backward to the stretching-bars G H. Each side guide may simply rest on the top of the stretchin g-bars, or have downward projections to embrace the bars, or, which is preferable, may be perforated with apertures to slide like a sleeve over the bars to" widen and narrow the space between the guides,"t0 adapt it to the exact width of the cloth, and to-so adjust that space on the barsiand plicater that it will direct the cloth over the point 1 in the line in which it may be desired to make the crease, whether relative distance from thetwo selvages- -as, for

instance, the width of the listingor selvage farther from the margin of the ply on one side than on the other-to fold the cloth with the outer edge of the listing or selvage of one ply even with the inner edge of the listing or selvage of the other ply, as shown in Fig. 19. This is done in cases where the selvages are made thicker than the body of the web. Such adjustment of the side guides is much facilitated by graduated scales t t on the base of the plicater one on each side of the crease-linethe-units of each of these scales being halfinchesand the subdivisions fractions thereof, so that when both side guides, L L, are set at any given number on the opposite scales the guides will be the same number of inches apart. Such adjustment of the guides to the scale may be made, one at a time, by hand, and

The width of the clear space between the side guides, L L, of the plicater for making the kind of. folds shown in Figs. 21, 22, and 23 will be one and one-halftime the width ofthe fabric. The width required for the kind of folds shown in Figs. 24, 25, and 26 will be one and one-third time the width of the fabric. The

width required for the kind of fold shown in a Fig. 19 will be the width of the fabric plus one-half thewidthofthe selvage. The width for the kind. of folds shown in Figs. 18 and 20 will be the width of the fabric.

In' adjusting the side guides to adapt the machine to folding fabrics of different widths and with different kinds of plicature the graduated scales on the plicatcr and feed-table not only save much labor, but also render the work more exact and prevent much inisfolding.

To adjust the machine for the plicature of a web with equal folds, as shown in Fig. 18, the side guides, L L and k 75, should be set at the number on their respective scales corresponding to the width ofthe web in inches.

To find the numbers at which the guides are 'to be set for making plies of unequal width,

for the wide ply there must be added to the scale-number corresponding to the width of the web a number corresponding to the number of inches that this ply is required to be wider than the other, and the same number must be deducted from the scale-number corresponding to the width of the web to find the proper scale-number at which to set the guide for the side of the web corresponding to the narrow ply. For example, if the width of the web is fifty-four inches, and it is to be folded into two plies, one eighteen inches wide, the other thirty-six inches wide, one guide must be set to 5i+ 18:72 on its scale, and the other guide must be set to 54-18.:36 on its scale; or, if the web be fifty-four inches wide, with two selvages, each one inch wide, and it be required so to fold the web that the outer edge of one selvage will lie eveirwith the inner edge of the other selvage, then the guide for the ply on which the selvage is to lay out must be set to 54+l=55 on its scale, and the other guide must be set to 541=58 on its scale.

To adjust the side guides, L L k k, of the feed-table, stretchers, and plicater to form the first ply of the four-ply fold shown by Figs. 21, 22, and 23 of a web fifty-four inches wide, the guides on one side should all be set to the number 40.1;plus the thickness of the fabric 011 the scale, and on the other side the guides should be set to the number 131, less the thickness of the fabric on the scale.

The web should now be passed, face down-- ward, through the machine as-adjusted, to make the first plication, which will reduce its width to about forty and one-half inches, as shown in Fig. 21, or about three-quarters of its outspread width. The guides must now all be readjusted. Those before set at 40'}- must now be set into the scale-number 13% less the thickness of the fabric, and those before set to 13% must now be set out to the scale-number 27 plus twice the thickness of the fabric. The web must then be run through the machine a second time face downward, with the double edge next the side guide farthest from the crease-line, and it will now come out folded, as.

shown in Fig. 22, reduced to about one-halfits original width. The two narrowplics will not quite approach atthe middle of the web, but there will be a space left between them ot'about four times the thickness of the fabric. The machine will now require readjustment for the third time, and all the guides must now, be set to the scalemnnber 13,},- plus twice the thickness of the fabric, and the doubled fabric, with the two plies downward, must now be passed through the machine again, when it will come out smoothly folded, as shown in Fig. 23,1110- vided due attention has been paid to the proper adjustment of the selvagc-tension of the plies, in addition to the mljustments as to other things already mentioned. The adjustment of the ply-tension is only to be accomplished by tentative methods, for diiferentfabrics, as they vary in thickness, strength, and elasticity, require different degrees of stretching to maintain sufficient and not too much tension at and near the crease. If the tension at the crease becomes greater than is needed to make it sharp, smooth, and even, then the hinged tapering stretchers S S, Figs. 10 and 1],.should be turned from their position of inaction, where they lie parallel to the base of the plicater and behind the area in which the pliesare turned, with their thin ends toward the point of the plicater, and between the selvage of the ply and the back of the plicater, until the path of the selvage is elongated enough to lessen sufliciently the tension on the crease. This turning of the stretchers is cffected by means of a shaft, s, extending across the base of the plicaterand resting in bearings in the side bars, F, one end of the shaft being provided with a hand-wheel, s, and a toothed detent-wheel, 5 with a detent, s, hinged to the bar F, Fig. 11, which holds firmly the shaft 8 in any position to which it may be turned by the haunt-wheel. Near each end of the shaft a small. miter-wheel, s is mounted, which gears into corresponding miter-wheels 8 Each stretcher S is shaped like the smaller section of a cone divided by a plane parallel to the axis and about one-eighth of the diameter therefrom, and lies with its flat side against the back of the plicater. each stretcher, with its miter-wheel, turns on a stout pivot extending downward from the back of the plicater. Thus constructed and arranged, the'stretchers may be turned forward nearly parallel to the sides of the plioater, as

shown in Figs. 10 and 11, or backbeneath the shaft 8, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1.0. This arrangement admits ot' the simultaneous adjustment of both stretchers by a single movement of the attendant of the machine.

I prefer to make the stretchers of cast-iron,

The heel of hollowed out on the back to diminishthe weight and polished where the cloth rubs on them.

The slopes produced by thinning off the edges of. the plicatcr on the back near the pointare continued up the inclination of the stretchers,

to produce the effect of almost any variation in the thickening of the edges of the plicater toward the base that could in practice he required.

Numerous ways are available for thickening the edges of the plicater-as,-i'or instance, removable tapering strips, as shown in Fig. 28; a compound edge expanding vertically, as

shown in Fi 9; a. movable margin on each,

edge of the plicater to expand and contract like a fan, to increase or lessen marginal tension on the ply, asshown in Fig.

When a web'is to be so folded ,as to require.

more than one pair of plies to be'tut ued, in stead of attaining that end by running the fabric more'than once through the same machinereadjusled properly after turningone pair of plies,

- to eight plies, as the case may be, at a'singrle operation would pass directto the packaging-- machine and be rolled or i'olded up, without relaxing the tension, into an even and sung parcel. Such triplicateraml packager combined is shown in Fig. 16, W XY,respectirely, being the folders and P the packager.

The plicaters O U C and side guides, L L, are. adjusted for folding a piece offab'ric in the manner represented by Figs. 21', 3.5;, and

In this compound machine only the mecham ism for makingthe initial fold requiresat'eedtable, and only that for making the final fold requires traction-rolls, which, even iu'it, may be. dispensed with by causing thepa-ckager to draw all the cloth through the plicaters, as shown in the drawings.

\Vhen the traction-rolls are dispensed with one or a pair of guide-rolls will be required in their place. In the drawings one guide-roll is shown, except in the first machine, 7, of the series, in which two are represented.

The traction-rolls could be converted into guide-rolls by simply removingthe drivingshat'twith its wheel and pulley, and this ar- 'rangemcnt in many cases would be preferable to the single roll.

The plicaters ot' the three machines should be placed on the same-level, the base of each succeeding plicater being at the side and parallel to the crease-line of that which immediately precedes it, to receive therefrom the issuing end of the partially-folded fabric.

The second machine has its feet fitted like the tail-block of a lathe, to rest on ways a"? a Fig. 16, on the base upon which the compound through its foot. y I third plicater being adjusted to the width oi machineis placed. These guide-rails are parallel to the crease-line ot' the preceding 'plicater and at right angles to thatwhich they carry. The purpose of these rails isto allow the second plicatcr-to be adjusted laterally to bring its crease-line into the plane of the crease for the next ply it is required to turn on the fabric, which is always atright angles to the i'oldpla-nc of the ply immediatelypreceding. When the second machine, X, is thus adjusted it is held in place by clamp-screws (1. cf pass ing' thrl-mgh its foot. I

The side guides, L L,ot' the plicatcr must be adjusted to the width of the entering fabric in its partially-folded state and to guide itin the pro -ierposition to direct it over the point of th-eplicater in the-line oi the course of'thc fold next to he made.

A rounded bar or roll, .2, to lessen friction, is placed across the base of each ol' the plicatcrs X and Y. The end of the fabric be ing carried through the plicater X, the second narrow ply is turned, and the two margins meet nearv the middle of the web, which, so folded, is reduced to one-halt'ot' its original width, and is ready to enter the third plicater, Y, to receive its iinal fold.

The third plicator is ranged at'the side of the second, as the se'cond was ranged at the side of the first. The size ot'the third -plicutor is less than thatot'thesecoml, as thesecond is less than thatoi' the iirst. in the proportion thatt-he width occupied by the fabric has been reduced by the successive folds, this piicater having only onehalf the width of base of the first. The plicatorY must be adjusted on its ways at a. with its crease-line in the same perpendicularplane with the middle line of the twice-folded fabric issuing from the second plicater,and fastened iii-this position by the clamp-screws passing The side guides, L L, of the the twice-folded t'aln'ic and equidistant from the crease-line, the end of the folded fabric is now carried forward over the bar or roll the plicater, through its iold-g'uides and traction or guide rolls E, as the ease maybe, and forward to the packager, to the central rod, 1), of which its end is connected, to be wound thereon to form a cylindrical package. This com pletes the plicationoi' the fabric and brings it to the'point where the packaging is to begin.

\Vhen a web has been neatly and evenly plicated lengthwise, and the creases oi its folds fixed, and its plies laid flat by the'gripc ot' the rolls E E, as if by a process of mangli'ng, it is highlyimportant that the cloth thus plicatedand smoothed, while under tension by pressure, should, withoutrelaxation'ot' the tension, be at once and continuouslywith the plication' rolled or folded into a package, whirdi then can be made more dense, even, and neat, and a more perfect anddesiiable'piece of-mer-' chandise, than it after plicature' under tension and subsequent compression it. were-suffered to rest, relax its tension, expand its bulk, and change its shape-before being packaged by a separate and subsequentoperation. For these and other reasons [have combined with my folding mechanism a packaging mechanism, so that the folded fabric will passfrom the folder directly into the packager, to be made up into a package as fast as folded.

I deem it unnecessary here to describe particularly my improvements in the mechanism for making either cylindrical or flattened packages, as they are the subject of claims by me under another patent, applied for January 15, 1380. It is sufi'icient to say,'in a general way, that the packager, as represented in Figs. 1 and 16, consists principally of aframe erected upon the same base with the plicater,"having two standards suitablyconnected and braced. Near the top of each standard stout mandrels or short shafts a a are arranged in suitable bearings to support the rod, board, or other core .for the package to be rolled on. The outer end of one of the mandrels carries a driving-pulley, which is driven by a belt from any suitable motor. The opposite mandrel is fitted with a screw and hand-wheel for turning it in or out, to facilitate the insertion or withdrawal of the rods, boards, or rolls on which to wind the plicated fabric to form the package.

In the drawings I have shown a rod, 1), to wind the cloth on. This rod tapers sufficiently to admitof its being withdrawn from the finished package. The cores should beprovided with devices for holding the end of the fabric to prevent it from slipping while winding.

When a lot of webs of equal width of any fabric is to be folded, I prefer to stitch together the ends of as many of them as the feed-table will hold at once, piled up in back-and-forth plications, the last end of the web, at the bottom of the pile, being allowed to hangover the rear side of the table in a position convenient for stitching it to the front end of a pile of another like series of webs. Thus any number of .webs of one width may be connected and run through the machine without the necessity of stopping to perform the troublesome operation of threading the end of each web through the stretchcrs, guides, round the plicater, through the fold-slot, and between the traction-rolls, as would be necessary if each web were separately entered and folded.

W hen the first web ofsuch acomiected series has reached its terminal fold in the package and brought up to the packager, the forward end of the next web, the machinery is stopped a moment to sever the connection of the two webs, fasten the completed package, remove it from the packager, place in the latter another core, and attach thereto the forward end of the next web, when the machinery is again started, and the next web in its turn packaged as it issues from the folder.

I have deemed a horizontal position the most convenient, both as respects construction and working, for the triangular plicater for general use, and have theretore described my folding-machines as organized with it in that position; but as the movement of the fabric in my method of toldingispositive and constantly under considerable tension, with no reaches unsupported long enough to sag and be flappcd about by rapid-motion, while the longest reaches are always under the greatest tension, the machine would work efficiently, with the plicater pointing either upward or downward, if the construction and organization ofthe machine otherwise were made to correspond to such changed position and such as to bring into operation the improved devices.

and methods of operation which are the subjectnnatter of this specification.

The triangular plicater might also be inade more acute than ninety degrees, and conse- "quently of greater length, or it might be made fabric under plication, and especially increasethose which are unfavorable to even and smooth folding, and such unfavorable changes increase in a ratio far greater than the departure of the angle of the plicater from ninety degrees the angle which I have discovered, to be the best. While such changes would thus be detrimental and under most circumstances inexpedient, yet, combined wit-h the improvements which I have herein described, they would be consistent with the production of a fairly efficient plicater that would save much labor and do superior work by comparison with the best methods heretofore known -but l deem it unnecessary to describe the construction and mode of working these inferior arrangements, as I have already described others which are better.

When very elastic, heavy, wide, and not very strong cloth is to be plicated, the distance between the edge of the plicater and the usual fold-guide may be'so great that the margins of the plies will sag and flap, or undulate, to a degree that cannot be counteracted by mere tension without subjecting the cloth to injurious strain'. In such a case a positive support for the ply, to prevent sagging, must be resorted to by detaching the narrow fold-guides most suitable for ordinary fabrics and replacing them bythe wing fold-guides shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This will keep up the margins and make the plies run steadily. The wings (I of these guides should be very smooth on the surface over which the cloth passes. They may be made of sheet metal, or of smooth parallel rods stretching out, like the teeth of a comb, at right angles from the fold-slot toward the edges of the plicater. The ends of the rods should be blunt and round.

The cloth might be measured and the measure registered upon it between the plicater and the packager by means of a machine which I have invented for that purpose; but as I have indispensable,

described that machine in another patent, ap-

' and even fold, as upon this the accuracy of the subsequent plicature will largely depend; hence it is of great importance that the. construction and arrangement of the parts of the machine with which the attendant has more immediately to deal in beginning the fold should be such that the fabric can be introduced under the best conditions with little. if any, more diflicnlty and labor than its improper presentation would involve. To this ehd I have constructed the fold-guides in such manner that the slot between them in which the opposite plies meet shall be open at one end to admit of the convenient insertion and proper adjustment of the plies to form the fold. To the same end I have so constructed and mounted the rolls E E that they can readily be separated to leave an unobstructed opening for the safe and convenient insertion edgewise between them of the end of the plicated web coming from the fold-guides and adjusting the same in the proper position between the rolls.

To this end, also, 1 have adapted the gradu ated scales and adj Listing-screws to the plicater and side guides, that the machine may easily be arranged for fabrics of different widths and plicatnre. With the sameobject I have fitted the tension and stretching roll with an easilyregulated friction-band, by means of which the tension can be properly regulated without the needof more skill or care than the ordinary attendants of' similar kinds of machinery are accustomed to bestow.

The open end of the slot between the foldguides and the open end of the space between the traction-rolls are labor-saving improvements, and otherwise highly useful, but not as the machine would do good work if they were closed. I do not, therefore, restrict myself to the use of either form, although 1 prefer, and generally use, that which is open.

What I claim is- 1. The improvement in the art of plicating fabrics lengthwise of .the web in machines in which a triangular plicaterand a folding-guide are employed, which consists in applying differential tension lengthwise of the Web to the portion of the fabric being formed into plies, such tension increasing from the crease toward the margins of the'plies, substantially as described.

'2. The combination of a plicater whose opposit-e sides converge at an angle of ninety degrees, or thereabout, with fold-guides and guide or traction rolls arranged substantially parallel to'the plicater,-whereby the plicature "is efi'ected by action upon aminimum area of the web of fabric at any given time, substantially-as described.

3. The combination, with a pointed plicater, O, of the fold-guides D D, the plicater being constructed and arranged with respect to the fold-guides as described, whereby the path of the fabric from the con-verging edges of the face of the plicater to the slot between the ibld-guides is shorter vergence of those edges from and near their apex than from those portions more remote therefrom, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the plicater G with margin-stretchers S and means for adjusting said stretchers, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the plicater O with fold-guides D D, arranged near its back and parallel thereto, substantially as described.

6. The combination of the plicater G with fold-guides D D, adapted to be adjusted toward and from each other, substantially as described.

, 7. The combination of the plicater C with fold-guides D D, adapted to be adjusted toward and from the back of the plicater, substantially as described.

I 8. The combination of the plicater G and guidebars D D with traction-rolls E E, the guides and rolls being arranged substantially parallel to and immediately below the plicater, and means for operating such rolls, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with theplicater G, of the fold-guides I) D, provided with wings'd d, to support the plies of very elastic wide and heavy fabrics against a tendency to bag and flap, between the edge of the plicater and the fold-guides, substantially as described.

10. The combination of the plicater O and side guides, L L, having arms I l, with the adjusting-rod N, having a right-hand screw on one end, a left-hand screw on the other end, and corresponding nuts in the arms I l of the guides, substantially as described.

11. The combination of the plicater O and stretching-bars H G with adjustable guides L L, common to both, and means for adjusting said guides simultaneously and by one operation, substantially as'describcd.

12. The combination of the graduated plicater 0 and right and left hand screw-adjustin g rod N with the side guides, LL, adapted to be separately adjusted on the adjusting-rod,'as wellas sim ultaueou sly adjusted thereby toward and from the crease-line, substantially as de scribed.

13. The combination of the graduated plicater 0 with the graduated feed-table M, having side guides, 70, adapted to be adjusted on said table, siibstantially as described.

14. The combination of the plicater G with relatively to the confold-guides D D, unconnected at one end, to

facilitate the threading of the fabric through the slot between them in gencratin g the len gthwise plicature, substantially as described.

15. The combination of the plicator G with traction-rolls E E and mechanism whereby they are adapted to be opened and shut and to seize and carry forward the folded fabric with a graduated gripe, substantially as described.

16. The combination of the plicater with fold-guides, unconnected at one end, and traction or guide rolls, also unconnected at one end, substantially as described.

17. The combination of a series of two or more parallel plicaters and their respective accessories, made adjustable to each other, as described, co-opcrating to turn a corresponding number of lengthwise folds ina web at one operation, substantially as described.

18. The combination of a series of two or more plicaters and their accessories, adapted to be adjusted to each other, as described,and co-opcrating to turn a corresponding number of lengthwise plies in a web, with a cross-folder or packager, and driving mechanism for oper-- ating the whole, whereby at one operation the web is multiplicated lengthwise and made into a compact merchantable package, substantially as described.

19. The improvement in" the art of plicating fabrics lengthwise of their webs and then crossfolding them in machines in which a triangular plicater and fold-guides are employed, which consists in uniting the webs to be plicated in a series or chain, as described, and applying to them an increasing tension at and toward their margins as they pass over the sides of the plicater to the fold-guides, whereby the ends of the webs in the intervals be tween the stitches or other means of joining them may pass over the point of the plicat-er without catching thereon, so that the plicature may, as described, be initiated in all the webs after the first automatically and their lengthwise and cross folding may both be done more evenly and with a saving of time and labor, substantially as described.

20. The combination ot' the feed-table M, friction-bars H G, tension roll I, and means by which its resistance may be adjusted, side guides, L L, and means for adjusting them, with the plicater O, fold-guides D D, tractionrolls E E, and means for actuating said rolls, substantially as described.-

21. The combination, with mechanism for outspreading the fabric preparatory to plication, a plicater, and fold-guides, constructed substantially asdescribed, of mechanism for applying substantially equal tension to the entire web of fabric as the same is passing to the plicater, whereby the said fabric is both plicate'd lengthwise of the web and cross-folded into a tight and even package automatically, at a single operation and while subjected to suchitension, substantially as described.

JOSEPH J. SOHQLFIELD.

Witnesses E. E. MASSON, W. B. MAssoN. 

